Fairgrounds rebuilding and improving

After conflict weakened the Lenoir County Fairgrounds, a group of volunteers revitalized the site, which now flourishes year-round.

Jessika Morgan / Staff Writer

It took hundreds and thousands hours of service to revitalize a weakened fairgrounds site seven years ago, but volunteers were much obliged.

The Lenoir County Fairgrounds and its facilities were in bad shape when ownership was handed over to the Lenoir County Fair Association. The county’s then-Junior Chamber of Commerce (Jaycees) chapter was in charge of the fairgrounds, but members passed the torch after slumping interest and financial conflicts between the two groups surfaced. The Jaycees disbanded after the LCFA took over.

The LCFA and other volunteers from the surrounding community have worked towards multiple repairs and restoring the once-proud fairgrounds to its former glory.

Now the county fair, along with various other stirring activities — such as motorsports, lives on.

The past: Falling Out

Local CPA Lloyd Moody has been a fair association member since 1972 and recalls the transition of the fairgrounds rights.

Moody said the local Jaycees initially purchased the fairgrounds. The fair association and the chamber group formed a cooperative effort to manage and operate the site at 401 Fairground Road in Kinston.

The agreement was the LCFA would use its financial portion for facility upkeep and fairground maintenance while the Jaycees would fund community projects.

“Things operated very well up until about 2005,” Moody said. “It seems like Jaycees membership fell down to five or six members. That caused some discourse between the fair association and the Jaycees over what the Jaycees was doing with money.”

The fair association officials began questioning the Junior Chamber members after noticing the Jaycees weren’t fulfilling their end of the original arrangement, Moody said.

“We never saw anything that was being done, and we confronted them with it,” he said. “They would never provide us with any documentation of what they were doing with their proceeds, which left a bad taste in the mouth of the Fair Association members. That was the real rub that started it all.”

Kinston Mayor B.J. Murphy, who was a member of the Jaycees before his 2005 mayoral campaign, said he and several other young business leaders were recruited into the organization after the LCFA was concerned about Jaycee spending.

“I was one of several involved in what happened,” said Murphy, who was one of about a dozen professionals who stepped in. “The fair association had some doubts about the financial handling of the Jaycees fund. … The fair association wanted some accountability, and quite obviously, the Jaycees needed it based on that past leadership.”

The previous leaders of the organization were in question after failing to explain what appeared to be fund misappropriation, including an all-expense paid trip to Disneyworld in Orlando for Jaycees.

“The conclusion was made that the previous Jaycees had, in fact, not been good stewards of their funds,” Murphy said, “but if both sides could agree to some type of arrangement with the property and how it was going to be managed … it would just be water under the rug.”

The parties compromised, but the Jaycees eventually disbanded.

“The right people took over ownership of the fairgrounds,” Murphy said. “Ever since that property transferred hands, the fair has become a better fair. … It was a great deal for Lenoir County.”

The Future: Rebirth

A typical year for the fairgrounds is filled with ongoing, major renovations, according to fair association members.

“All those improvements didn’t happen over night,” Moody said. “There have been thousands of hours and volunteers.”

The fair association is a volunteer organization, with no membership cost, and it completely operates the Lenoir County Fairgrounds. The facilities on site include two buildings, which are often rented out for various activities, a livestock arena and motorsports tracks.

Aside from the Lenoir County Fair itself, the motorsport additions to the fairgrounds have drawn many from around the country. A fall car show, put on by renters, also brings many people to the fairgrounds and to Lenoir County.

Brian Hussey, the LCFA member in charge of motorsports, became involved with the fairgrounds efforts to build a motocross track six years ago.

“It just translated to more and more,” he said. “I just really wanted to come out and build a motocross track and run races during the fair. We got a really good group of people together that all had specific talent of some sort.”

The volunteers’ skills ranged from operating equipment, construction knowledge and everything in between. There was already a demolition derby track. They revamped the area and converted it into a multipurpose complex.

The site hosts an annual dirt track champion series, drawing in hundreds from around the county.

“All the racing was just to be an enhancement to the fairgrounds, just to give these fairgrounds another purpose,” Hussey said. “It was something to add an attraction to the fair. We want it to get bigger and bigger.”

Other attractions include an annual car show hosted at the fairgrounds and multiple events put on by those who rent the area.

The facilities sit on 58 acres of land in Lenoir County, operating in some fashion year-round. But the fair draws about 20,000 people, according to LCFA Executive Vice Director Mark Pilgreen.

“I think everybody has grown up with a county fair,” he said. “Around here, especially in the Southeast and the South, county fairs are just a staple thing that everyone looks forward to going to.”

The Lenoir County Fair Association, according to Moody, has contributed thousands of dollars to the community.

“We’re one of the largest civic groups in the community,” said Moody, citing the fairground fundraising projects and income, with the latter supporting Lenoir Community College scholarships.

Less than a decade after the fairgrounds were in financial dire straits, Moody said the LCFA is debt-free and will continue promoting progress in Lenoir County through contributions.

“That’s the whole purpose of it,” Moody said. “I totally believe … the Lenoir County Fair Association through this fair is going to continue to be one of the largest contributors to Lenoir County.”

Jessika Morgan can be reached at 252-559-1078 and Jessika.Morgan@Kinston.com. Follow her on Twitter @JessikaMorgan.